


The Leaves on the Trees

by cosmicrhetoric



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Also I make fun of Dawlish way too much i don't even know why, Baby Harry is the best Harry, F/M, Jily Week, jily, slight language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-30
Updated: 2014-07-30
Packaged: 2018-02-11 01:00:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2047104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cosmicrhetoric/pseuds/cosmicrhetoric
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's early January when she looks his way for the first time.</p><p>Obviously not the first time, she's had to deal with him being Head Boy all year, and there were all those years before this one, but she never looked at him without that characteristic scoff and a pointed flip of her hair.</p><p>It's snowing when she finally does.</p><p>[Jily Week Day 2]</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Leaves on the Trees

**Author's Note:**

> JIly Week Day 2  
> Prompt: Seasons of the year

**Winter:**

It's early January when she looks his way for the first time.

Obviously not the _first_ time, she's had to deal with him being Head Boy all year, and there were all those years before this one, but she never looked at him without that characteristic scoff and a pointed flip of her hair. 

It's snowing when she finally does. 

Lily used to remember this as their first meeting. She knew what she looked like, snow in her hair, her eyes wide against skin made pale by bitter winds-and how he looked when he realized she was actually  _looking_ at him. It was romantic, syrup and spice and thick, frothy hot chocolate all wrapped in that one moment. Early in their relationship, during the worst part of winter, she imagined that moment as the turning point, because she knew she had to forgive and forget. Everything James( _“Potter!”)_ had done to her for the last five years was to be forgotten in lieu of this new, lovely James.

It took her a month of steady dating before Lily realized she was being stupid. She was already seriously rethinking the whole 'He's changed!' theory, considering that she had just gotten back from assisting Professor Flitwick with getting all the pumpkin juice off the walls of the Great Hall. Somehow he and the others- Sirius, probably- had managed to convince the house elf staff to tamper with their food! It was an impossible task, even if James exuded this magical kind of charm that made nearly everyone love him(Seriously. He didn't even need to bow to that Hippogriff in CoMC last week), it was quite the prank. And considering that she was dating the loon, Lily found herself to be quite justified in sharing the laugh that went up from the Gryffindor table before marching off to go see to the culprit.

She didn't even need to say anything either. When Lily found him, he grinned sheepishly at her, still holding a jug of the offending pumpkin juice, and all it took was her raising an eyebrow before-

“Pleasedon'tbreakupwithme!”

Lily stopped. “Sorry?” she asked, hiding a smile.

“I mean-” he took in her carefully suppressed expression and sighed. “Oh, you know exactly what I said.”

“I do.” said Lily, amused. “What on earth gave you the impression that I would break up with you?”

It was his turn to raise his eyebrows. “ _Oh,_ screw you, Potter.” said James in a creaky falsetto. He clapped a hand to his cheek, nearly knocking his glasses off. “You're  _such_ an insufferable  _twat,_ how could you be  _so irresponsible!_ And Head Boy, no less!”

“I do not sound like that!” said Lily, laughing. “Was that one from Halloween, or-?”

“Christmas, I think.” said James, returning the smile. “You know, when I made the mistletoe-”

“I remember.” said Lily. “Gosh, that was horrifying. You deserved that hex, and you know it, James.”

He perked up.”Still 'James', then? Not back to 'Potter', are we?”

“Still James.” affirmed Lily. “Though that was a damn fool thing to do.”

James had agreed grudgingly, and then Lily had pushed him into Professor McGonagall's path. Just because  _she_ forgave him didn't mean he didn't deserve detention. 

But when he got back from three hours of sorting out Potions ingredients, he came straight to Lily's room.

She let him in, shaking her head. “How you manage to bypass the staircase, I'll never know, James. Even on the Head dorms!”

James followed her in, an unusually thoughtful expression on his face. Lily collapsed onto her bed, making room for James to lie next to her. They both stared up at the ceiling, and Lily frowned. He was the one who normally started conversations. This was weird.

“How was detention?” she tried, but it didn't appear to have any affect. James opened his mouth, and closed it again. 

“When did you start becoming okay with it?” he asked after a moment. 

Lily turned her head to look at him. He was staring resolutely upwards. “What do you mean?”

“With-with the jokes, the pranks, all the stuff you used to _hate_ me for.”

“I never hated you for the pranks, James.”said Lily quietly. “I didn't like you because you were kind of a jerk, to me and my friends.”

“Ah. Well, I'm not anymore, right? I mean, I'm trying, an I just-I don't know why you're still with me, Lily.”

Lily blinked, and turned his head so that he was looking at her. “I'm still with you because I want to be. And I wouldn't want to cut that short. You've-”

“But I haven't, thought!” he exclaimed. “I haven't changed, I feel the same, I do the same stuff. Alright, maybe I don't hex that many people anymore, but I still haven't changed enough for that much of a difference.”

No, he hadn't, Lily realized. In many ways, James was still inherently  _James_ , that boy from the train compartment who brandished an imaginary sword. “You're right.” said Lily, almost surprising herself. “But you have matured, James, at least a little.” Or maybe she had.

“Lily, I exploded thirteen gallons of pumpkin juice this afternoon.”

“And I find it _adorable._ ” said Lily firmly. “If I wanted to date someone without a sense of humor, I would be making out with, er, Dawlish or something right now.”

James wrinkled his nose. “Don't even make jokes like that, Lily.”

Everyone hates Dawlish.

Lily laughed. “My point still stands. I like you. I like James the Head Boy, and I like James the Marauder.”

“We're not changing the name.” said James automatically, bringing up an old argument. “Lily-”

“I mean it, James. Quit being insecure, it doesn't suit you.”

He had to laugh at that. “After all the times you've told me to deflate my head?”

“ _James._ ”

James nodded, smiling at her. Lily turned back over, so she was looking up at the ceiling again. He gave a small sigh next to her, but he was still smiling. Lily began to doze off-this was almost to comfortable.

“Lils?”

“That's an awful nickname.” said Lily.

James nodded. “Just trying it out. Lily, then?”

“What is it?”

“Can I say something?”

“James.”

“I'm in love with you.”

Lily sat up immediately. James followed, looking a little panicky. 

It had only been a  _month,_ for goodness sake! But Lily, she had thought about this moment for quite some time now. She knew it was going to happen, James almost made his feelings clear when she agreed to Hogsmeade the first time, but he had restrained. 

“I know.” she said, but it wasn't as bad as it sounded. He knew she did. He opened his mouth to say something, probably to apologize, the berk, but she pressed a finger to his lips. “Hush. I'm having a thought.”

Lily had expected this, though she had assumed it would come after at least another two weeks, and she had thought up all the scenarios in her head. Either she went red, and whispered an 'I love you too', or went white and said 'I'm sorry, not yet'

Lily went white.

How? How could she had plotted and planned and still be completely unprepared for this right now? She felt the cold dread she had imagined when assuming she would turn him down, but Lily couldn't get the words out.

“ _I'm sorry. Not yet.”_

It felt  _wrong._ She couldn't say that. 

And almost instantly, she thought of that little boy in the train compartment(“ _Gryffindor! Where dwell the brave of heart!”_ ) and his fake sword and all his bravado. Lily was brave, wasn't she? She didn't get into this house just because her hair would clash horribly with green, right?

(she  _could_ love him)

Lily realized her hand was still covering James' mouth, and that if she removed it, he would probably take it back. Well, Lily didn't exactly want him to-god, how selfish did that make her?

“I know.” said Lily again, slowly. “I know, I just-oh, bugger.”

James gently moved her hand from his mouth. “Sorry.” he said softly. Lily shook her head furiously. 

“Don't apologize, don't.”

“I should have done that later.”

“Not your fault.” said Lily, staring at her clasped hands. Her knuckles were turning white. “Oh, _bugger._ I, um, I don't know how to say this, James-”

“It's okay-”

“-I love you too.”

They stopped. Stared. Lily's eyes widened, she had not planned on that slipping out. James' face had gone strangely stony, and Lily ducked her head back to stare at her hands, her hair effectively curtaining her view of him.

When she next looked up, a tentative peek, it nearly blinded her. 

Lily wasn't sure if it was  _possible_ to show that many teeth and to not look slightly insane, but there James was. A walking conundrum. His grin radiated joy, and she cried out as he just about tackled her to press kiss upon kiss onto her mouth.

It had stopped snowing.

 

* * *

 

** Spring: **

“I love you.”

“And I love you, but that's not going to stop me from killing you for _eating all of my chocolate sauce_!”

James laughed, a tell tale smudge of brown on his lips. Lily bore down on him, despite him being near a head taller than her, hands supporting her back, hair in disarray. He had already knocked over three vases in an attempt to escape her rage, but she had finally cornered him in their bedroom. There were walls all around him, and he played the  _ilysm_ card in a final, futile plea for salvation.

“Lily, love-”

“I have been vomiting all afternoon, and you decide to go and eat the one thing that makes me happy! And I know about Sirius raiding the larder last week, despite your clever ideas to try and hide it from me.”

“Please sit down, Lily.” he tried weakly.

“I'll sit down if I want to. Right now, I'd rather eviscerate you.”

Sense made him ignore his fear, and he crossed the rather small room to her, taking her arm and guiding her to the bed. “Sit.”

She looked up at him, scandalized. “Like hell.”

James raised an eyebrow. “Six months, love. Just three to go.”

“I'm not fragile, James.” said Lily, but she did sit. James pulled up a hard back chair and popped down facing her.

“How's our baby girl today, then?”

Lily brushed her hair out of her eyes, and as always, James was caught by the diamond that glittered on her fourth finger.  _I did that_ , he thought, a little giddy. His eyes fell on her stomach, which had only just began to show a small curve.  _I did that too_ .

“Testy.” said Lily. “My mother didn't start showing until seven months, so I'm in the same boat, sort of. But she never mentioned how _heavy_ Princess is going to be.”

James grinned. He had started calling their girl Princess a few weeks ago, an then suddenly Sirius was making toasts to the unborn 'Princess', and Lily was slipping the name into casual conversation.

Lily rolled her eyes at him. “We're not actually going to name her Princess, you know that?”

“What if Princess here is a boy, then? We haven't even started thinking about names.”

“She's not.” said Lily. “I have a feeling she's going to have your hair, though. What a nightmare.”

“Not a nightmare!” cried James. “You _like_ the hair.”

“Well, alright, but you're going to have to plait it until she gets older.” Lily paused. “I might be wrong, then. Honestly. It is a fifty-fifty shot.”

“No, I trust you.” said James. “Your instincts are Princess's instincts.”

“So you really want to just think about girl names?” asked Lily, amused.

“Well, if Princess is taken-”

“It's a boy.” said Lily. “I swear to Merlin I will change the sex of my baby through sheer will power if it means not naming the poor child _Princess_.”

“It's a beautiful name.” said James. “What about Lily?”

“No.”

“But-”

“ _No._ What about after your mother, Dorea?”

“Dorea Potter? Another one? She sounds like she'll come out of the womb at age fifty.”

“It's a lovely name. What about after Mary? No, I take that back, can't let her ego get too high. Jane?”

“Jane reminds me of those Muggle books you made me read.”

“I left them out on my night table and you got so absorbed in Mr. Darcy's enigmatic eyes that you refused to put the book down.” said Lily skeptically.

“ _Lies_. Karen?”

“Karen was a bitch. Remember Karen Wormwood, from school?”

James shrugged. “She seemed nice enough.”

“She fancied you.” said Lily. “Gosh, Petunia would throw a fit if we named our kid after her. Lets do it.”

“Lady Petunia. Princess Petunia. I thought you were sick of the flower names, love?”

“That's only because you were all for Hydrangea last week!”

“It's exotic! _You_ wanted Temperance.”

“Temperance is beautiful. Hydrangeas, on the other hand, have wasps.”

James sighed. “'We're not going to get anywhere, are we?”

“No.” said Lily. “Maybe it's one of those things, like we see the baby and the name just clicks.”

“Knowing us, two different names will click.”

“Knowing us, it'll be three.” said Lily. 

They were quiet for a long time, Lily absently running her hands over her stomach as James stared through the window.

“The sky's gorgeous today.” said James quietly. “You used to make me-do you remember?- skive off classes so we could sit outside and stare at the sky.”

“You were so scandalized that I skipped so often.” said Lily dreamily. “The Astronomy Tower that one night that we stayed up to watch the stars disappear, that was lovely.”

“I fell asleep.” reminded James. “I woke up just in time for dawn.”

Lily hummed her agreement. “Dawn.”

James met her gaze. “Dawn?”

“Dawn.”

A beat.

“Where's the chocolate sauce?”

 

* * *

 

** Fall: **

“We are not having a June wedding.” said Lily. “You proposed in June. I'm not waiting another year.”

James grinned fondly at her, taking her hands and clasping them over the table at the rather strange dive they were at for lunch.”I don't want one either, but my mum does, and somehow she got word that your mother had a June wedding as well, so...”

“It's not happening.” said Lily firmly. She took another discreet glance at her left hand. Gosh, did it _sparkle_. “I want to be married, James. I want to be currently married to you.”

“Mary suggested September first.” said James. “The anniversary of when we met, you know.”

“That was a week ago, James.” said Lily, sighing. “And I'm still not waiting another year.”

He grinned. “You say 'another'-”

“Like I haven't been waiting for you to propose since we left school.” said Lily frankly. 

“Considering that your reaction was to go 'Ugh! Finally!' before saying yes when I _did_ pop the question, I'm not surprised.” said James.

“Shut up. I love you.”

James pressed his lips together. “I told you that I loved you in January. We can make January work.”

Lily nodded. “I suppose we can. But, well, I just-”

“Lily?”

“I just want to be married to you.” she said in a small voice. “Like now. I want to have already been married to you.”

He grinned. “We can find a registry and pick up the Marauders as witnesses in a half hour.”

“I also want to live to reproduce.” said Lily dismally. “And a double murder by both mothers of the happy couple, that would be bad.”

James nodded. “Well, we never talked about this yet, right? What kind of wedding do you want?”

She almost let 'The kind when I'm married to you' slip, but Lily had some pride left in her. “I don't mind.” said Lily. “Dorea wants a big party, though, doesn't she?”

“We don't have to listen to my mother.” said James. “I think I'd prefer something small for the actual service, but afterward I would like to write the words 'I MARRIED LILY EVANS. SIRIUS OWES ME TEN GALLEONS FROM WHEN WE WERE TWELVE'in the sky.”

“I think you can use your father's Ministry connections to make that happen.” laughed Lily. “Weather Control department, right?”

“Those guys are shit.” said James, glancing out the door as it opened and closed. “It's been dry as a bone for weeks. And already September!”

“I like this weather.” said Lily. “It's...gusty. It makes inhaling feel more real.”

“Of course it does.” said James, smiling at her. “Hey, how long would it take to plan that out?”

“What, a sky writer? They don't have a Wizarding equivalent, James.”

“No, no, a wedding. Small service-”

“-big reception.” finished Lily. “I'm not sure. With the combined powers of our mothers, and also Mary's insanity, how about a month? I suppose.”

James nodded slowly. “Well, then that's settled.”

“What?”

“It's September eighth, right?”

“Yes?”

“We'll get married in a month. November eighth, how about that?”

“I love you, James.”

“Me too. I mean, to you.”

“There's a slight snag in your plan, though, dear.”

“What is it?”

“November eighth, that's when Dirk is getting married. We got the invitation two months ago.”

“Dirk? Oh, hell, Lily, anyone who goes to Dirk Dawlish's wedding is not invited to ours.”

“We sent an RSVP!”

“ _Dirk Dawlish_ , Lily.”

“Yeah, fuck that guy.

 

* * *

 

** Summer: **

Lily wiped the sweat from her brow. Her heart rate hadn't slowed yet, and the creepy hospital bed wasn't doing much in the way of confidence. She reached her hand out to the nurse at her bedside.

“What did you just say?” she asked, wheezing slightly. James stood next to her, his hand a comforting weight on her shoulder.

“The Healer's coming to see you in a bit-”

“No, before that.”

The nurse beamed. “It's a boy, miss!”

Lily swore, loudly. The nurse looked taken aback.

James laughed weakly, next to her. “So, uh-”

“Don't even say a word to me and my stupid fucking instincts.” said Lily. “I cannot believe I was so convinced Dawn was a-I mean, not Dawn. If we name a boy Dawn it will mess up any potential friendships he will ever have.”

“That's actually quite common, miss-”

“Not a word.”snapped Lily to the nurse. “Oh hell.”

James spoke lightly. “We could always name him-”

“If you say either 'Dirk Dawlish' or 'Sirius',I may actually slap you.” said Lily. She closed her eyes and sighed. “Well, at least I get to terrify the girlfriends that he brings home now.”

“A definite perk.” said James, nodding. “Oh, Merlin, I have sex talk duty.”

Lily laughed, but the sound was a little weak. “Yes, you do.”

The nurse handed the baby into her arms, and Lily cradled the child, James leaning over them both. 

“He's beautiful.” said Lily, awestruck.

“Your eyes.” murmured James. 

“I think that's your _hair_ , James, oh, I was right.”

He smiled. So did the baby. 

“Hey, don't you have an uncle Harry?”

 

**Author's Note:**

> written for jily week


End file.
